King Ashurbanipal Library
In the ancient village of Alqosh, nestled in the heart of Nineveh, a new beacon of hope and progress is rising. We are proud to collaborate with Khoyada Youth Group to construct the King Ashurbanipal Library, named after the world’s first library. Equipped with local university textbooks, high powered computers and other digital resources, the library will be a nexus for information access, academic support and skill-building. Now more than ever, digital literacy is essential to economic empowerment and global social inclusion. We are committed to this tech-forward project to usher the community into the future.
Project Start Date: July 22, 2022
Project Cost: $25,500
The Magnificent Legacy of Ashurbanipal: The World's First Library
The world's first library, created by Ashurbanipal, was a truly magnificent achievement. Ashurbanipal was the last great king of the Assyrian Empire, and his reign was marked by a deep love and appreciation for knowledge and learning. He realized the importance of preserving the knowledge of the past for the benefit of future generations and set out to create a library that would house the greatest collection of written works of his time.
The library was built in Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, and it was said to contain over 30,000 clay tablets, covering a wide range of subjects including history, literature, science, and law. The tablets were written in cuneiform script, an early form of writing used in ancient Mesopotamia.
What made Ashurbanipal's library truly remarkable was not just the sheer number of tablets it contained, but also the vast range of subjects covered and the care with which they were organized and catalogued. Ashurbanipal understood the importance of being able to access information quickly and easily, and so the tablets were arranged according to subject matter and indexed for easy reference.
The library was also more than just a collection of tablets, it was a center of learning and scholarship, where scribes, scholars and students came to study and copy texts. It was said that Ashurbanipal himself was an avid reader and even personally oversaw the translation of some of the tablets in his library.
The library of Ashurbanipal was not only a symbol of the Assyrian Empire's power and wealth but also of its cultural and intellectual achievements. It stood as a testament to Ashurbanipal's belief in the importance of knowledge and learning, and it remains an inspiration to this day.
How to Say "Library" in Aramaic
Eastern Dialect
ܐܲܪ̈ܟܹܐ
Pronunciation: ar-ké
Western Dialect
ܐܰܪ̈ܟܶܐ
Pronunciation: or-ké
The Library of Ashurbanipal in the British Museum
The Library of Ashurbanipal, also known as the Royal Library of Nineveh, is an important collection of clay tablets from the ancient Assyrian Empire. The library was created by King Ashurbanipal in the 7th century BCE, and it is considered to be the world's first known library.
The library was discovered in the ruins of the ancient city of Nineveh in the 19th century by the British archaeologist Austen Henry Layard. Many of the tablets were taken to the British Museum in London, where they remain on display to this day.
The collection at the British Museum contains around 30,000 clay tablets and fragments, covering a wide range of subjects including literature, history, science, and law. The tablets are written in cuneiform script, an early form of writing used in ancient Mesopotamia.
One of the most famous tablets from the library is the Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Mesopotamian epic poem that tells the story of the hero Gilgamesh and his quest for immortality. The library also contains important historical texts such as the Assyrian King List and annals of Ashurbanipal, which provide insight into the history and politics of the Assyrian Empire.
Visiting the British Museum you can see the impressive collection of clay tablets from the Library of Ashurbanipal, which are on display in the museum's Middle East galleries. The tablets are accompanied by translations and explanations, making them accessible to visitors of all backgrounds.